several questions.

trashboaty
trashboaty Posts: 15 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 18 years old and I'm a guy. I'm 6'1. I weigh 215 pounds, and was curious if it was realistic to lose 2 pounds a week? I'm trying to get down 175 or 180. I was also curious as to how long it'll be until I see an improvement? Can I eat 1800 calories a day and still exercise or would that be too much? MFP is suggesting that I eat 1600 calories, despite the fact that I said I'd be exercising 7 days a week, and for 1 hour a day. I was curious how much I should eat if I want to lose 2 pounds a week, and not destroy what little muscle I have?

Replies

  • trashboaty
    trashboaty Posts: 15 Member
    I just realized I had it set to female instead of male and fixed it.
  • ruggedshutter
    ruggedshutter Posts: 389 Member
    edited February 2015
    That would probably help a bit. I'm 5'-11" and 201 and my final weight goal is the same as yours. I'm eating around 1850 and constantly losing. I'm running on a treadmill 30mins, 3x's a week and 2 days of strength training. I have lost 6 pounds in the past month. Feel free to look through my diary if you want...though yesterday wasn't a normal day.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited February 2015
    trashboaty wrote: »
    I'm 18 years old and I'm a guy. I'm 6'1. I weigh 215 pounds, and was curious if it was realistic to lose 2 pounds a week? I'm trying to get down 175 or 180. I was also curious as to how long it'll be until I see an improvement? Can I eat 1800 calories a day and still exercise or would that be too much? MFP is suggesting that I eat 1600 calories, despite the fact that I said I'd be exercising 7 days a week, and for 1 hour a day. I was curious how much I should eat if I want to lose 2 pounds a week, and not destroy what little muscle I have?

    MFP doesn't include your exercise

    the calories it gives you is based on your activity level eg your general day to day working life (sitting at a desk all day= sedentary / walking around a bit like a student / teacher = lightly active)

    That means even if you don't exercise that's how many calories you should eat minimum

    When you do exercise you're basically burning up more calories, so you log them and eat them too ... although it is a given that you only eat back 50 - 75% because MFP tends to overestimate calorie burns for many people ... you can double click in the calories part and change them manually

    Also you need rest days - don't go all out aiming for 7 days a week, you'll crash and burn - rest days are important

    I think your goal weight loss is set too high - you should drop it to 1lb a week .. the higher it is the more chance you will lose more muscle .. and in your exercise include resistance / weight training to preserve as much as possible
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    2 pounds a week is going to be too aggressive as it will start burning more muscle with the fat, especially as you get closer to your goal. The best solution is to start out with a 1 pound per week deficit, change it to .5 when you reach your final 10-15 pounds, and start a lifting program to retain your muscle.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
    You can lose 2 lbs/week. It's tough to do, but it can be done. When I was losing my weight, that's about what I was averaging. Intense exercise will help with this. I'd recommend that you do a good amount of hard weight lifting/strength training. It's an awesome form of exercise that will help protect the muscle mass you have as you lean out.

    What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~2200 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.
  • trashboaty
    trashboaty Posts: 15 Member
    I think I'll go for 2 pounds a week for a little while. I'm trying to be thin before the end of the year. I was aiming for May/ June to be at least most of the way there, but I guess that isn't realistic.
  • trashboaty
    trashboaty Posts: 15 Member
    I've been dieting for about three weeks and have lost about 2 per week, I just wasn't sure if that was too much. I feel fine.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Use MFP's suggestion, plus half the exercise calories (allows for errors and miscalculations on logging and burns).
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